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New Orleans Area Gains Jobs in November
By Kimberly Quillen
New Orleans Times-Picayune
December 23, 2009
The New Orleans area gained 1,500 jobs in November as the local labor market, which was dealt only a glancing blow by the national recession, strengthened.
Some of the employment gains were seasonal, according to data released Tuesday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission. The local retail trade sector, for example, added 800 employees in November as stores began ramping up for the holidays. But Patty Lopez Granier, research analyst for the commission, said the figures point largely to the overall health of the local economy.
“It’s definitely a sign that we’re holding up well,” Granier said. The state as a whole gained 2,900 jobs between October and November.
In addition to the retail sector, the construction, health care and hospitality industries all added jobs in New Orleans during November. Having employment gains across a number of different sectors is a sign of a healthy, diversified economy, Granier said.
“That’s really the key to the events going on nationally. States that are hardest hit are those that had a lot heavier employment in the manufacturing sector or in the financial sector and were not as diversified … as Louisiana is,” Granier said.
In fact, every parish and metropolitan statistical area in Louisiana posted a November unemployment rate decline. And most areas of the state either added jobs or remained stable during the month.
“I think that we’re showing that Louisiana’s a very resilient state,” Granier said.
There were 523,400 nonfarm jobs in the seven-parish New Orleans area during November, up from 521,900 in October. In November 2008, there were 530,400 nonfarm jobs in the area. November marked the second consecutive month of job gains in the metro area. In October, the metro area added 2,200 jobs.
The New Orleans area’s 6.1 percent unemployment rate in November marked a decline from October’s rate of 6.8 percent. In November 2008, the local unemployment rate was 5.1 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate stood at 6.3 percent in November, down from 7.1 percent in October. In November 2008, the Louisiana unemployment rate was 5.1 percent.
Even at the height of the recession, unemployment rates in New Orleans and Louisiana lagged national rates, and that trend continues. The national unemployment rate currently stands at 9.4 percent.
“Business Week named New Orleans one of the 10 safest cities to ride out the recession about a year ago,” said Michael Hecht, president of the economic development group GNO Inc. “We continue to bear out that recognition.”
